Cowboy Chili Recipe

Cowboy Chili Recipe

Cowboy chili is an American cuisine recipe. Coming from the age of cattle drives and chuck wagons, cowboy chili will sway you away with its amazingly delicious taste. With a lot of meat and savory-sweet flavor, this recipe is going to satisfy your taste buds. 

How to Make Cowboy Chili at Home?

Follow the following steps to make this marvelous and tasty recipe at home:

Ingredients

  • Lean beef = ¾ lbs (ground)
  • Yellow onion = 1 (medium-sized, chopped)
  • Beef broth = 8 oz (1 cup)
  • Pinto beans = 15 oz (1 can of drained beans)
  • Gaelic = 2 cloves (minced)
  • Dried oregano = 1 tsp
  • Stewed tomatoes = 15 oz (1 can of chopped tomatoes)
  • Cumin = 1 tsp (ground)
  • Salt = ½ tsp
  • Chili powder = 2 tbsp
  • Cayenne pepper = ⅛ tsp (optional)

Method

  1. Take a large saucepan.
  2. Add the ground beef, onion, and garlic to the saucepan.
  3. Cook on medium flame.
  4. Keep stirring continuously.
  5. Cook for about ten minutes until the beef is brown.
  6. Drain it after cooking.
  7. In the beef mixture, add chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, cumin, broth, and liquid.
  8. Stir well to mix.
  9. Cook it on a low flame.
  10. Cover the pan and bring to a simmer. 
  11. Keep stirring from time to time.
  12. Cook for about one hour.
  13. Then add salt and beans.
  14. Cook for another 15 minutes while stirring.
  15. Dish out the chili.
  16. You can serve it immediately or let it cool down to room temperature and then refrigerate it.
  17. Then serve the cold chili.
  18. Bon appetit!

Chef Tips

  • If you are not a fan of beef, you can replace it with your favorite type of meat like turkey, chicken, pork, or Italian sausage.
  • Like the smoky flavor? Add adobo sauce or some liquid smoke and boom! The smoky chili!
  • For children, you can also add vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, corn, eggplant, and any other veggies you and your family like.
  • To thicken the chili, you can add beer. It will also enhance the flavor.
  • For additional spice, add jalapeno peppers.
  • Instead of pinto beans, you can use black beans or kidney beans also.
  • Try making your seasoning mix.
  • To get the best flavor, make the chili some hours before serving and let it set and cool in the fridge.

What can be served with Cowboy Chili?

The most famous and best-served items with cowboy chili are as follows:

  • Diced jalapeno peppers
  • Sour cream
  • Tortilla chips
  • Saltine crackers
  • Green onion
  • Corn chips
  • Hot sauce
  • Potato chips
  • Mashed potatoes

How to get the best flavor out of chili?

For the best flavor, you can try adding:

  • A sweetener: honey, brown sugar, white sugar, or maple syrup. Although cowboy chili is a savory and tangy dish, you can add something sweet to complement the flavor of spices and the tanginess of tomatoes. It will add flavor to your recipe.
  • Cocoa powder: sounds a bit strange to add cocoa powder. You might be thinking that your child might taste like chocolate but don’t worry. This is a very old technique that complements and rounds the taste of all the ingredients very well. So don’t worry and go ahead!

How to make the Cowboy Chili stocky and thicker?

If your child has a thin or soupy nature in its final form, do not worry. We have solutions for you to make it thicker. Try these:

  • Try adding starch. Mix a tbsp of cornstarch, flour, or masa harina in water and pour it into your chili. Mix well until the thin liquid nature disappears and your wanted thickness is gained.
  • In case there is a lot of water, when simmering on low flame as mentioned in the method, do not cover the pan. It will evaporate any extra water and thicken your chili.
  • When the beans are soft, mash a few of them. Their starch will thicken the chili. But mash only a few, not all the beans.
  • You can add oats instead of starch. Both work the same way. Start with less and keep adding oats until the wanted thickness is gained.
  • A wheat extract, xanthan gum is safe to use to thicken the chili. Also, it does not affect the flavor of chili.

Beans or Beef?

There is a dispute about if the cowboy chili has solely beef or also red beans. Well, it originally had beef but due to the lack of meat and its value, people started using red beans to give volume and nutrition to this dish. You can choose to use red beans or not depending on your taste and choice.

Cowboy Chili or Texas Chili?

Cowboy Chili is also confused with Texas chili. The difference is Texas chili has no tomatoes in it while cowboy chili can or can not have tomatoes. Depends on your choice.

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per serving (210 g)Calories = 350 cal
Total Fat 
Saturated fat
Trans fat
27 g
10 g
1 g
Cholesterol75 mg
Total Carbohydrates
Sugars
Dietary Fiber
7 g
3 g
2 g
Protein20 g
Sodium 1170 mg
Potassium 300 mg
Calcium 150 mg
Iron 3.5 mg

More Amazing Recipes

Cowboy Chili Recipe

Cowboy Chili Recipe

Cowboy chili is an American cuisine recipe. Coming from the age of cattle drives and chuck wagons, cowboy chili will sway you away with its amazingly delicious taste.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 350 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ lbs Lean beef (ground)
  • 1 Yellow onion (medium-sized, chopped)
  • 8 oz Beef broth (1 cup)
  • 15 oz Pinto beans (1 can of drained beans)
  • 2 Gaelic cloves (minced)
  • 1 tsp Dried oregano
  • 15 oz Stewed tomatoes (1 can of chopped tomatoes)
  • 1 tsp Cumin (ground)
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 2 tbsp Chili powder
  • tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Take a large saucepan.
  • Add the ground beef, onion, and garlic to the saucepan.
  • Cook on medium flame.
  • Keep stirring continuously.
  • Cook for about ten minutes until the beef is brown.
  • Drain it after cooking.Drain it after cooking.
  • In the beef mixture, add chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, cumin, broth, and liquid.
  • Stir well to mix.
  • Cook it on a low flame.
  • Cover the pan and bring to a simmer. 
  • Keep stirring from time to time.
  • Cook for about one hour.
  • Then add salt and beans.
  • Cook for another 15 minutes while stirring.
  • Dish out the chili.
  • You can serve it immediately or let it cool down to room temperature and then refrigerate it.
  • Then serve the cold chili.
  • Bon appetit!

Notes

If you are not a fan of beef, you can replace it with your favorite type of meat like turkey, chicken, pork, or Italian sausage.
Like the smoky flavor? Add adobo sauce or some liquid smoke and boom! The smoky chili!
For children, you can also add vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, corn, eggplant, and any other veggies you and your family like.
To thicken the chili, you can add beer. It will also enhance the flavor.
For additional spice, add jalapeno peppers.
Instead of pinto beans, you can use black beans or kidney beans also.
Try making your seasoning mix.
To get the best flavor, make the chili some hours before serving and let it set and cool in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal
Keyword Cowboy Chili Recipe
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!